Luxury Lodges of the South

We chose New Zealand as our honey moon emphasizing in visiting some Lord of the Rings filming locations as well as experiencing other NZ wonders. The team of The Road Trip made a great job in designing a perfect itinerary for us. First, Alex worked with us for months during many backs and forwards, never forcing us towards any set or standard itinerary, but always adapting the itinerary to our preferences and making sure we made the most of our time. We finally settled a part guided and part self-driven itinerary. We also indicated that we where not willing to spend a lot of money in fancy hotels, and he made sure our accommodation was always nice but affordable. The time and effort he put into it was really remarkable. The whole booking process was smooth and straightforward, and we always received all the help we needed from them, always keeping quick and easy communication. Once there, our guide Bruce was really kind and helpful. We learned a lot about NZ with him and he was always willing to do all in his power to make sure we could do all our planned activities, even when we needed to react to unfavourable weather conditions. Also, Shani from the reservations team was always reachable to make any changes or adjustments needed. We constantly felt cared and supported, and we don't have any doubts that they all did their best to help us enjoy our time. It was truly a memorable trip and we need to thank all of them for it. We fallen in love with New Zealand. We will return there, and we will definetly do it with The Road Trip.

Pick these guys if you are interested in a great tour of New Zealand - they know what they are doing. Had a fantastic time in the North Island tour that started in Auckland and ended in Wellington. Our group visited many Lord of the Rings film locations, including Hobbiton, Helms Deep, etc. and special effects wizards Weta Workshop. We learned about Maori culture and traditions. We went white water rafting and enjoyed sumptuous meals at River Valley Rafting. Our guide, Bruce, was very knowledgeable and accomodated our various requests ("Can we get ice cream?"). I am already planning to use them for a tour of the South Island. Highly recommended.

"It has been a dream of ours to visit New Zealand for many years and The Road Trip exceeded all of our expectations. From the start of planning our trip, months prior to visiting New Zealand, Road Trip answered all of our questions and concerns. The Road Trip put our minds at ease through the organization of creating our 12 day itinerary, providing transportation from and to each airport, and by booking each hotel and tour. Through booking each daily activity for our stay in New Zealand, Road Trip also took the time to cater the tour to focus on our interests and our love for Lord of the Rings movies (filming locations). Furthermore, we cannot be remiss in thanking our tour guide, David, who went above and beyond to ensure we were able to see and experience as much of ‘Middle Earth’ as possible. We will forever be grateful for David as he truly brought our dream holiday to life. His recommendations and knowledge of local restaurants, trails to hike, wineries, and cafes were spot on. It was unbelievable that each day seemed better than the last. As we continue to reminisce about our trip by looking back at photos and sharing our experiences with family and friends, our hearts are full. With beautiful weather each day during our stay (which many shared with us is unusual during winter months), we were able to take in all of the beauty New Zealand holds. David said it best, “you guys had the picture-perfect brochure every day,” and he couldn’t be more accurate. Thank you, Matt, David, and The Road Trip for your unwavering efforts in creating the perfect holiday!" With grateful hearts, James and Lindsey

We can’t say enough positive things about The Road Trip. From our initial contact with Alex we (group of four) felt well taken care of, like we were the only ones they were assisting. Other companies were happy to provide plans but The Road Trip were the only ones to develop a plan that captured our interests (i.e. culture, landscape, wine, culinary), in other words, they listened. The unique dining in Christchurch was a special treat – it was such a fun evening. In retrospect there is not a single accommodation, dining, or tour we would have changed, a testament to the great planning The Road Trip team did. Of note is the great job they did in providing support, the Reservation Team (thanks Denina!) were on top of every detail (hotels, transfers, car rental, meals, excursions …) and subsequently the trip was seamless, we just focused on enjoying ourselves. The app used for the trip plan included all our itinerary and reservation information (with links) and worked extremely well. It included information on dining, activities, and shopping that we consulted many times for dining and hikes. Our trip was spectacular with great memories, The Road Trip was a key reason why!

Just had 21days in NZ south island. The Road Trip crew organised everything and it was faultless! The tour was tailored to our wants and what we were into. The App was just great so we were never concerned about if we were on time or what to see on the way.Cannot recommend this crew enough! The month of May is perfect for what we wanted to do. Again thanks to the Road Trip crew for a great holiday. There is not enough room here to write about all the great things we saw and did. The Kiwis are great!

A little late in posting this review, but it was such a wonderful experience I wanted to make sure I let Alex and our guide Constance know what a great time we had. Kudos to Alex for putting together a fantastic itinerary on such short notice and to Constance for her knowledge, wit, and patience with the four of us spry 60+ year olds. She was an amazing host who loves her country and loves to share its history, she was a fantastic driver as well, she knew when we needed to get on the road and knew so many short cuts during rush hour traffic, she made us so happy we weren’t driving. As a side note, being from the States, I would highly recommend not driving, we’ve driven NZ and Australia before and having a driver is sooo much more enjoyable. We highly recommend The Road Trip!!! Thank you again Alex for making our vacation amazing!!!

The Road Trip team did an outstanding job organizing and scheduling our recent visit to New Zealand. There were no issues communicating with them from the States and they made it easy to schedule a video call and discuss what would best match our interests and priorities. Alex and the team then sent us a first draft itinerary to review .They had excellent suggestions and many great options. Lastly, they sent a final itinerary and an app to use throughout our trip. Communication throughout the process and the trip was easy and the app was fantastic --it had all the information we needed each day – hotel reservations, activities, meals etc. and we appreciated the many suggestions in the app for places to visit and activities so we could tailor each day to our liking. Because our trip was so successful, we’re planning to use The Road Trip to return to New Zealand in 2025. It’s by far the best way to organize a great trip to New Zealand that is tailored for you.

The Road Trip New Zealand organized a 12 day road trip in the South Island for us! Alex and his team were focused on making the best arrangements to meet our goals for this trip. The team began by finding out what our interests were and then matched a road trip itinerary designed to meet our goals. The pace of activity in each day was good ( Though New Zealand is very very big and we could have spent easily a month exploring the country....or more). We will have to return! Highlights in the South Island are many including the helicopter ride to the top of Franz Josef Glacier, tramping through the rainforest, the Amisfield Winery wine pairing lunch, and our walks around Auckland to discover restaurants and see the sights. Dealing with the Road Trip New Zealand team was easy, they took the time to listen to us, pay attention to our budget and put together a great trip. Communicating with them from the other side of the world was easy and we found the team responsive to our emails. Many thanks for all your help in making this trip memorable!!

I had a great trip with my friends. New Zealand is beautiful. This time I experienced it. The views and scenery were spectacular. I hope I can comeback to NZ again.

If you are looking for a bespoke tour of New Zealand's South Island, I would recommend going with the Road Trip. Other than for day trips, my wife and I avoid bus trip tours. We want my own agenda and dislike waiting for a large group of people to assemble and don't like being part of herd following a flag around and having to be rushed to the next place. After doing extensive research about the places we wished to visit and after looking at several companies, We decided to go with the Road Trip. We were able to talk directly with Matt about our interests and he put together a two week tour agenda. After reviewing, I added some things and changed others to get exactly the route and agenda we wanted. Chris M. was our guide and excellent driver and quickly learned what we liked and the types of things we wanted to do and see. We were able to make changes on the fly and spend as much or little time at each place as we wanted and arrive at our next lodging spot early - or later if we wanted more time someplace. When our whale-watch tour was cancelled, Chris suggested a steamboat tour and BBQ lunch as an alternative which was an excellent choice. He also knows interesting local and out of the way places to stop for views, walks, breakfast, lunch and coffee breaks, many which we likely would not have discovered on our own or at a convenient time. Chris was very personable, accommodating and polite and had a great sense of humor. He is well versed in NZ flora and fauna and can identify native birds and plants and provide a lot of info about them. He is also quite knowledgeable about Maori culture, history and lore. He is well travelled and has many interesting life experiences and stories to relate. We spent many hours in the car so I believe we got to know one another quite well. Thanks again to the Road Trip and to Matt and Chris for taking good care of us and giving us a truly memorable experience!

Having never been to New Zealand before we wanted to self drive and asked the Road Trip to suggest an itinerary. We spoke to Matt via Zoom and discussed our interests, time lines and budget. Within a short period of time Matt sent us a suggested itinerary. We met again via Zoom and discussed the plan. Each day we looked forward to opening the App and following the suggested route as we explored NZ. Points of interests, suggested cafes and rest stops along the route did not disappoint. All of the accommodation and activities were excellent. Wonderful to arrive in a city and look at the suggested restaurants, etc. we followed the the Road Trips suggestions most evenings for dinner and were delighted we did! On a couple of occasions, timings for activities were altered by the provider and our App was immediately updated and a email was also sent to us. We loved New Zealand, we thoroughly enjoyed The Road Trip’s staff and services. This is the way to travel!! Highly recommend! 10/10!!!

Highly highly HIGHLY recommend The Road Trip to plan your New Zealand adventure. Everything was planned perfectly between the hotels and the adventures. Their recommendations were spot on and we had the trip of a lifetime. There were 8 of us ranging from teens to late 60s and the adventures we had were perfect from climbing to jet boating to staying on the Milford Sound. We didn’t have any hiccups, everything was booked perfectly and made to be so easy! We just showed up and everything was good to go! We will be back one day and have The Road Trip team plan another vacation for us! Well done team and THANK YOU SO MUCH!

Our itinerary was planned so well. There were 4 of us (2 couples) and the activities were just as we wanted which was a mixture of adventures, leisure time, variety of lodging including off the beaten path ones. They were accommodating and receptive to our wishes.

We used The Road Trip to plan out our 18 day "Road Trip" in New Zealand and it was one of the best things that we did. We talked to them about what we wanted to see, where we wanted to go and they took care of everything. We spent 13 days in the South Island and 5 days in the North Island and it was basically "turn key" for us. We showed up at the airport in Christchurch and they took care of the car rental, all of our hotels / motels, the excursions that we wanted to go on, provided us points of interest along our drive including suggested hikes, things to do in the cities that we visited as well as restaurant recommendations. All of these I have typically done myself on other trips, but having them do it on this trip was worth every penny and made things much more enjoyable and significantly less stressful. Even after we started our journey they were very responsive to some changes that we made on the fly (because of weather). I would highly recommend them - in fact we asked if they provide these services in other countries because if they did we would definitely use them!

I highly recommend using The Road Trip team to plan your NZ trip. We booked our trip in March 2020 and due to the pandemic, we obviously had to cancel. The Road Trip team helped us to rebooked when NZ opened its borders without having to forfeit any of our deposit moneys. We ultimately took a self-guided tour in 2024 where the Road Trip team helped us to plan an itinerary that met our specific needs and timeline. The final itinerary was perfect and we followed it to a tee, including the GPS recommendations. All our hotel, car rental, flight and excursion confirmations were booked as outlined in our detailed itinerary. In other words, we didn't have any problems when we arrived at hotels, to pick up cars, catch flights or do excursions such as gondolas, boats, trains, helicopters, etc....They also helped us to book some excursions at the last minute. We loved all the hotels they booked. And finally our helicopter excursion was cancelled due to weather and the Road Team transferred the booking with the same helicopter company to a different city and tour so we wouldn't miss out. It was also nice knowing that the Road Trip team was there to support us during our stay. Again, I highly recommend The Road Trip team. They stuck with us for four years! I am soooooo glad we used them. You should too.

Road Trip NZ helped us plan a 15-day independent tour of New Zealand and we can't say enough good things about them. We started with some ideas of what we wanted and they provided suggestions to improve the trip plan. During planning and during the trip itself they were easy to reach and responded quickly. They coordinated a rental car for us on the North and South islands and booked all accommodations and planned activities. For each stop, we chose the "level" of hotel (platinum, gold, silver). No matter what level was selected, the accommodations were excellent for that type of stay (roadside motels to big city hotels). The included meals, and activities were all first-rate and every time we walked into someplace new, they had our information and checked us in quickly. Road Trip NZ provided an easy to use customized phone app that had all of the needed trip information: directions, places to eat, interesting stops along the way, and additional activities at each location. For directions, activities, or food, the app never steered us wrong. Highlights of the trip included a wine tour of Waiheke Island, Heli-hike on Franz Joseph Glacier, Hobbiton, Waimangu Valley, and jet boating. I highly recommend that everyone visit New Zealand and use Road Trip NZ to plan your trip of a lifetime.

Responding at very short notice for a trip over the Christmas period, The Road Trip pulled together a well balanced week of sightseeing and activities. Kinloch hotel and Lana Hotel were both first class and our driver/guide, Chris Martin was a good driver, always on time and came with a great sense of humor. Very happy with our week.

We had a wonderful road trip with my family of 4 along with my mum and uncle. We were surrounded by beautiful scenery while en route, not just at the destinations. The experiences and activities catered to the more active and sedate family members allowing each to experience NZ at their own pace . Several parts of the route were windy, and each day required 2-5 hours of driving either in parts or in a stretch. We were fortuitous to have my husband, who is experienced driving long distances abroad and in NZ to take us from place to place. Even so, the Toyota Hiace was challengeng to manoeuvre around the few hundred kilometres of steep windy bends. The weather was generally kind to us while we were there in NZ in Dec while we were there from 17-30 Dec 2023.

It was a most fabulous three week honeymoon in beautiful New Zealand! Our team at Road Trip (Matt and Denina) put together and booked an incredible itinerary. A true "tasting menu" of New Zealand. We decided on a self-drive option and presented Matt with a challenge (my husband's list was lengthy). After a couple of back and forths via email and a zoom call we ended up with one week on the North Island and two on the South. They booked everything; from the rental cars (Ezi Rentals - excellent), to the lodgings (all comfortable, clean, breakfast included and perfectly located), domestic airline tickets, and several things to do (kayaking, glow worm caving, etc). Except for our lunches and dinners everything was pre-paid which made it sooooo easy. Their detailed itinerary included so many suggestions for side trips, tips for the best photo opportunities, when to top off on gas and restaurant/cafes suggestions. Denina responded so quickly to our on the road requests to change times for certain activities or type of car (we wanted more trunk space). There is NO way we would have been able to enjoy this perfect "tasting menu" of New Zealand without The Road Trip. We wholeheartedly recommend using them for your trip to NZ! Thank you Road Trip team.

First time in New Zealand so hired the road trip to travel the South Island. The views were amazing as expected. The staff were very responsive and tried their best to make our trip smooth. They customized the trip to our budget and it was easy to enjoy each day following the itinerary. Please be more involved in choosing activities to get the maximum benefit